Hackers in pursuit of valuable customer data breach T-Mobile servers.
T-Mobile confirmed that hackers breached their servers on Monday, Aug 16, which preceded a formal statement the following day. They estimate that over 40 million people had their data compromised in the breach. This includes PII such as social security numbers, date of birth, names, driver license information, and more. And sadly, no, this is not the first time their data has been compromised.
Utter the words ‘data breach’, and the news spreads just as fast as any 5G network. Over the past 10 years, there have been 300 data breaches involving the theft of 100,000 or more records according to Forbes. And per the World Economic Forum, as of 2019, cyber-attacks are considered among the top five risks to global stability. Sadly, this news isn’t new. But considering that most of the individuals affected by the T-Mobile breach weren’t even existing customers, the headline doesn’t evoke much confidence.
Cyber security threats and mistakes can come to life at five key levels: the machine level, the data level, the network level, the Internet level, and first and foremost – the human level. There are prevention measures that can be put in place across all five – the key is to ensure there’s consistency on ongoing audit and data strategies especially when it comes to protecting your CRM while using it for analysis.
The risk appetite that we practice at Intent HQ is As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP). We know how valuable your customer data is in producing powerful insights and actionable audiences – we also know how dangerous it is when proven vulnerable. We offer Service Providers an opportunity to realize the value of their data and monetize it in a manner that protects the rights of the individual subscribers and complies with any privacy or security legislation.
For questions and more information on IHQ privacy standards, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Earlier this month, we invited Forrester Analyst, Brandon Purcell, to share his thoughts on practical AI applications in Customer Experience. The thought-provoking session included an interactive element; with Brandon inviting the audience to debunk certain AI myths.
It seems unlikely that telcos are a rich breeding ground for the next set of breakthroughs in AI, but they are, they just don’t know it.
It’s 2017, and you would have thought that creating evidence-based systems of decision has never been easier. After all aren’t the FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix & Google) doing this day in day out? Aren’t closed loop digital systems all hooked up with continual measurement, and isn’t every vendor under the sun promising you it’s easy? It can’t be that difficult!
In the Great Competitive Paradox story, we mentioned the concept of the Digital Twin. We described how the FANG companies create a digital profile that represents part of the real customer. They use this profile in order to engage in a more individual way, creating a highly personalised customer experience that in turn leads to a magnetic, sticky attraction to their brand.